What is IAM as a Service?

According to industry analyst Gartner, more than 80% of software vendors will change their business model from traditional license and maintenance to subscription and flexible consumption by 2020. And, by 2022, 40% of global mid-size and large enterprises will use IAM as a service that will fulfill most of their needs, up from 5% today.

This is real food for thought when it comes to determining the best delivery model for the industry. It seems that not only will 40% of businesses use a strictly service-based model by 2022, just two years from today, but 80% of IAM vendors are going to cater to this. Why is a service-based model preferable, and what would a good offering look like?

IAM is a complex field, full of variety, and nuances. Unlike other IT solutions, IAM encompasses many domains and offers many functions to both boost security as well as improve organizational efficiency and bolster bottom lines. Whether one looks at  Single Sign-On (SSO), Password Management, or Identity Governance and Administration(IGA) functions like Access Reviews and Automated Provisioning, IAM has something to offer almost every business. But, they all revolve around one common backbone: access rights. Hence, a given IAM environment must medley all these different modules in such a way that they play nicely with each other.

But, most IAM solutions today present potential buyers with some common challenges.

1. Getting approval for an IAM solution can be very difficult. Since most solutions are purchased as licenses, they are billed as capital expenditures, which requires approval from high up the chain of command. While industry analysts predict the adoption of IAM to increase considerably in the near future, it is still low. Most businesses consider IAM a luxury rather than a necessity, and for this reason, getting approvals is even more difficult.
2. Bundled IAM solutions have a low feature utilization rate. This is because organizations typically buy the solution for just one or more features, say, for single sign-on, and never explore the other features. The cost of bundled solutions is high, and therefore there is major wastage involved. Observing this trend, many approvers shy away from purchasing IAM solutions, and those that do bite the bullet experience very low ROI.
3. Implementation times are long: Even amongst cloud-based IAM solutions, implementation of solutions can take months to be fully functional. This problem is exacerbated exponentially with traditional solutions, which can take upwards of 6 months to a year for full implementation. Unfortunately, in today’s fast-paced business environment, such long implementation times simply won’t do as they result in very low ROI.
4. Different vendors have different strengths, but try to offer bundled solutions. For instance, some industry leaders that are renowned for their single sign-on modules offer poor password management capabilities. This results in a situation where different facets of IAM must be purchased from different vendors. Since all IAM solutions deal with access rights, the different solutions must definitely play nicely with each other. The cost of purchasing multiple license solutions is also very high.
5. The present COVID situation has spelled disaster for many businesses. Budgets are at an all-time low, and finding answers that are cost-effective for IAM challenges is all but critical.

These reasons explain why service-based, pay-as-you consume models are superior and are going to see high adoption in the near future. But why wait for the future when you can experience the benefits now?

Ilantus offers several IAM functions such as Single Sign-On as a Service, Password Management as a Service, and Access Reviews ias-a-service in a partner-driven sales model. It offers numerous benefits over a license model.

1. Our partner-delivered model ensures that you get the kind of attention you deserve
2. Costs are considerably lower when you pay for what you consume rather than for a full-blown license.
3. Approvals and budgeting are far easier when you consider the purchase as an operational cost rather than a capital expenditure
4. Implementation takes weeks not months
5. You can ‘start small’, purchasing just one module and then adding to it over time
6. Our solutions play very well with other IAM solutions and integrate readily with just about any IAM solution out there
7. Our solutions are cutting edge and enable you to experience IAM just as you need it: no more and no less. Just subscribe to one of the services and add as you go!

Identity Management  is a complex field, and with this complexity come many challenges. Ilantus solves these challenges by offering the industry’s first true pay-as-you-go ‘as a service’ delivery model where you can pay pennies and receive exactly the IAM features that you desperately need in your organization. You can build on your IAM environment by adding solutions from Ilantus or any other vendor as you go, and hence the solutions scale extremely well. Check out Ilantus’ ‘As-a-service’ line of solutions today to know more!